From October 8th to the 21st, we’re hitting the road with the 10 Million More Black Voters initiative. We call our tour Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers, and we're handing out 6,000 copies of books banned by anti-CRT laws across the country. This effort is to ensure that everyone has access to critical literature — especially stories that teach America's true racial history. 

Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by friend and collaborator Barbara Arnwine, president and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition. They unpack the connection between these banned books, voter suppression, and the vital importance of the upcoming midterm elections. 

To learn more about the Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers tour, visit www.booksunbanned.org

This episode features:
Barbara Arnwine, Founder/President, Transformative Justice Coalition

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Produced and edited by Nicole Edwards
Mixed by Sean Dunnam
Support provided by Kevin Minofu and Julia Sharpe-Levine

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

48. Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers

Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.

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Guest Dawn Porter, director of Luther: Never Too Much, joins host Kimberlé Crenshaw to discuss a new Luther Vandross biopic. They explore Luther's unmatched artistry, the intersections of the pop star's lived experience that stopped him from receiving the accolades he rightfully deserved, and his legacy as the soundtrack to so many lives.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Guest Dawn Porter (@dawnporter)
Produced by Sr. Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Support provided by Sana Hashmi, Jocelyn Walker, and the team at the African American Policy Forum
Episode art by Ashley Julien
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram), and aapf.org

57. Never Too Much: The Untold Story of Luther Vandross

Guest host Shermena M. Nelson is joined by Huru founder Imani Joye Samuels to discuss the life-saving importance of rest for Black women. They also unpack strategies for creating a sustainable, effective self care practice.

Shermena, Imani, and other wellness practitioners will host an evening dedicated to Black women's self care calledYou Carry the Dream: Reclaiming Rest and Resilience on March 28th during this year's Her Dream Deferred week. Join in person in NYC, or host a watch party and livestream the event from your area. Find out more here.
Featuring Shermena M Nelson
Imani Joye Samuels
Executive produced by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Sr Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Associate Production by Sana Hashmi
Art by Ashley Julien
Support provided by Jocelyn Walker, Kristin Penner and the team at African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (Twitter), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram)

56. The Revolutionary Act of Self Care

Join Kimberlé Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum at Sundance Film Festival on January 19th, 2024 at 8 pm MT for The Story of Us (Part 4), live at The Park in Park City, Utah. Register for your free pass here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-story-of-us-surviving-the-war-on-woke-black-storytelling-tickets-793686827667


In this episode, host Kimberlé Crenshaw and African American Policy Forum present the Story of Us (Part 3) panel, recorded live from the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.
As we think about the future of democracy, this instalment of Sundance's "Big Conversation" series builds on the previous two iterations of Kimberlé W. Crenshaw’s The Story of Us, and explores how cinematic storytelling has long been, and continues to be, critical to shaping the contours of democratic inclusion. Who gets to be a hero or a villain in popular depictions of American life? Who gets written out of the story altogether? And how do Hollywood portrayals influence the amount political power that various demographics of Americans hold in real life?

Featuring W Kamau Bell, the 2023 Sundance Vanguard Award winner, comic, and television host
Holly Cook Macarro, Tribal Advocate & Political Strategist
Jason Stanley, author and Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University
Roger Ross Williams, Academy Award-winning Director, Writer, and Producer

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)
Produced by Sr Producer Nicole Edwards
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Support provided by the African American Policy Forum
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters (X), @IMKC_podcast (Instagram)

55. Who gets to be a hero in the story of America?

This episode highlights a new milestone for the #SayHerName campaign: a new book, entitled #SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence. 
Co-authored by podcast host Kimberlé Crenshaw and the team at the African American Policy Forum, this book helps readers better understand Black women's susceptibility to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence. It explains —through Black feminist storytelling and ritual — how we can effectively mobilize various communities and empower them to advocate for racial justice for Black women, girls, and femmes.
In this podcast episode, you'll hear incredible performances from actors at each of our #SayHerName book tour stops in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. You'll also hear from members from the #SayHerName Mothers Network, a sisterhood of women who have lost other women, girls and femmes in their family to police violence.
You'll also hear from Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead, Dr. Dorothy Roberts, and Kali Holloway, each of whom served as cohosts at book tour stops in their respective cities. They reflected with Dr. Crenshaw on the power of the tour, the calls to action from the book, and the urgency of the lessons the book contains.
Centering Black women’s experiences in police and gender violence discourses sends the powerful message that, in fact, all #BlackLivesMatter, and that the police cannot kill without consequence. Supporting AAPF ensures that this important research and testimony continues to inspire change.
To purchase your copy, click here. To learn more about the #SayHerName campaign and to register for the 9th annual ceremony of ritual and remembrance happening live in NYC on Dec 14th, go to https://www.aapf.org/sayhername
Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks), with Dorothy Roberts @DorothyERoberts, Kaye Wise Whitehead @kayewhitehead, and Kali Holloway @kalihollowayftw.
Produced by Nicole Edwards and the team at the African American Policy Forum. 
Mixing by Sean Dunnam 
Music by Blue Dot Sessions 
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

54. #SayHerName: the Art of Bearing Witness on the Page and Stage

To kick off Banned Book Week, host Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) is joined by award-winning author George Johnson (@IamGMJohnson). They talk about the book bans that are sweeping the US, and George's new reality as one of the most banned Black authors in America. They also discuss the triumph of George's memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, and unpack why George's work is needed now more than ever.
Join AAPF for the second year of the Books Unbanned Tour, kicking off at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Oct 1st. Register for the panel discussion and free afterparty here: http://bit.ly/BKBF23
Learn more about how you can help preserve our freedom to learn here: www.freedomtolearn.net
Produced by Nicole Edwards and the team at the African American Policy Forum.
Mixing by Sean Dunnam
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast

48. Books Unbanned: From Freedom Riders to Freedom Readers

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